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WORLDCOM PR GROUP EMEA REPORTS ON SUCCESS OF FALL MEETING

Brussels, Belgium. 05 November 2009 – The Worldcom Public Relations Group, the world’s leading network of independently owned public relations counseling firms, reports today on the success of its EMEA fall meeting, held in Italy from 24 to 26 September. The group also announced the appointment of several new officers and the inauguration of a program specifically for younger staff, the Worldcom EMEA Future Group. A new partner, Ligaris Paris, joined the team during the conference, bringing the total number of member agencies to 30.

New appointments to board

The Worldcom EMEA PR group elected several new officers during the meeting. The board is now comprised of the following people:

·         Treasurer: Paget Langford-Holt from the Spanish agency Grupo Albión www.grupoalbion.net)

·         Recruitment:   Patrik Schober from PRAM Consulting in the Czech Republic (www.pram.cz)

·         Marketing: Imma Folch Lázaro from LF Channel in Spain (ww.lfchannel.com)

·         Worldcom EMEA Future Group: R. Nagy from Hungarian agency Probako Communications (www.probako.hu)

·         Professional Development: Thomas Schmidt Jorgensen from Prime Time Kommunikation in Denmark (www.primetime.dk)

Two existing board members were reelected to their current positions. These are Maria Pace Medolago Albani from CBO - Communication by Objectives (www.cbopr.com), responsible for Member Retention; and Paul Vann from London-based Winningtons Financial Public Relations (http://www.winningtons.co.uk/) who will continue to coordinate Peer Review activities.

Worldcom EMEA Future Group

The fall meeting saw the inauguration of the Worldcom EMEA Future program. This enables younger members with less than four years’ PR experience to be mentored by senior practitioners and develop their skills. Several members of the Future group attended workshops on PR trends at the fall meeting. They also met with their peers to define the group’s objectives, including a self-development program. The Worldcom EMEA Future Group will also assist the rest of the group with internal and external communication support.

Ligaris Paris joins the group

Worldcom EMEA also added a new member at the conference. The French agency Ligaris Paris, created in 2003 by Pierre Siquier, is an independent French communication group with 126 employees. Ligaris is involved in all fields of corporate communication, including global communication consultancy, advertising campaigns, internal communication, press relations, graphic identity, and public affairs.   

“I’m delighted that Ligaris has been accepted as a member of the Worldcom EMEA PR Group. It's a great opportunity for us to develop our work with the European Commission as well as other pan-European accounts,” comments Pierre Siquier, CEO of Ligaris Paris. “It will also enable us to develop one of our main skills: the international coordination of multicultural business originating from both the US and Asian networks. We’re really looking forward to contributing to the very high standard of expertise for which Worldcom is renowned.”

Helping clients develop integrated campaigns

“Our meeting in Sicily was very successful with all member agencies attending,” says Crispin Manners, EMEA chair of the Worldcom Public Relations Group and Director of UK agency Kaizo. “Some great ideas and initiatives emerged from the workshops on social networks. We’re also looking forward to working with the Worldcom EMEA Future group and developing their considerable talent.”  

The next Worldcom EMEA meeting will be held in Istanbul, Turkey in autumn 2010. Further details will be announced at a later date.

The Worldcom PR Group welcomed additional agencies during meetings in its other two regions. The full-service PR firm MARC USA from Pittsburgh was appointed during the Americas Region Meeting in Carolina, Puerto Rico. At the Asia Pacific Region Meeting in Tokyo Bay, Japan, the network agreed to accept two new partners as members. These are Beyond PR of Taiwan, and AP Connections of Singapore.

About Worldcom PR Group

Worldcom Public Relations Group is the world’s leading partnership of independently owned public relations counseling firms, with some 105 offices in 91 cities worldwide. Established in 1988, it was formed so that the strongest, most capable independent public relations firms could serve national, international and multi-national clients while retaining the flexibility and client-service focus inherent in independent agencies. Through The Worldcom Group, clients have on-demand access to in-depth communications expertise from professionals who understand the language, culture and customs of the geographic arenas in which they operate. Visit www.worldcomgroup.com for more information.

Worldcom EMEA currently comprises 30 agencies with strong expertise in consumer, healthcare, travel & tourism, technology, energy & environment, financial services, investor relations, public affairs and crisis & issues management. Clients include Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Panasonic, Sony Ericson, LG Electronics, the EU Anti-Tobacco Campaign, Verbatim and Palm. Visit www.worldcomemea.com for more information.